Tafseer of Taa-Haa · Taa-Haa · 20:106
And He will leave the earth a level plain;
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
﴿ فَيَذَرُهَا قَاعًا صَفْصَفًا ﴾ (and He leaves their places as a bare, level wasteland): He — exalted be His praise — says: He leaves their places on the earth, when He has completely pulverized them, as qāʿ — that is to say: a flat, smooth earth — ṣafṣaf — that is to say: even, without vegetation, without difference in elevation and without any rising.
In accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes also spoke.
* Mention of who said this:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the words ﴿ قَاعًا صَفْصَفًا ﴾: he says: even, without vegetation.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning the words ﴿ فَيَذَرُهَا قَاعًا صَفْصَفًا ﴾: he said: even; al-ṣafṣaf is the flat.
Yūnus related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Yūsuf informed us, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Lahīʿa related to us, saying: Abū al-Aswad related to us, on the authority of ʿUrwa, who said: we were sitting with ʿAbd al-Malik when Kaʿb said: the Rock is the placement of the foot of the Most Merciful on the Day of Resurrection. Whereupon he said: Kaʿb lies — the Rock is only a mountain among the mountains; for Allah says ﴿ وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْجِبَالِ فَقُلْ يَنْسِفُهَا رَبِّي نَسْفًا ﴾ (and they ask you about the mountains; say then: my Lord will pulverize them completely). At this ʿAbd al-Malik fell silent.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning (صَفْصَفا): he said: even.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: the same.
Abū Jaʿfar says: some of the experts in the Arabic languages from the inhabitants of Kūfa said: al-qāʿ is the gathering place of water, and al-ṣafṣaf is that which has no vegetation.
